I don't think that anyone sits down with a film featuring the Dalai Lama expecting to be entered. Enlightened? Definitely. Informed? Yep.Taught? Affirmative. It's important to remember this when sitting down with this 90-minute documentary that during its indie arthouse release with Abramorama became the most successful documentary in Switzerland in over thirteen years and the sixth most successful documentary in Switzerland ever. 

Wow. 

Co-directors Barbara Miller and Philip Delaquis center this intimate documentary directly on the Dalai Lama and a quest for happiness. Focusing almost exclusively on the Dalai Lama, other than far too frequently utilized nature and humanity-based visuals, Wisdom of Happiness features the nearly 90-year-old talking directly to the camera about his own life experiences and all that he has learned about compassion and surrendering to happiness.  The Dalai Lama here is the person we'd want him to be - emotionally honest, mature, and surprisingly humble and human. 

Were Miller and Delaquis to trust the inherent magnetism of their subject, Wisdom of Happiness would have been a rather exceptional documentary. It's still quite good, however, it's also repetitive and so reverent as to be non-challenging. The film has Richard Gere, no surprise, and Oren Moverman as executive producers, and it's refreshing to have the Dalai Lama talking about his own childhood and its challenges. 

Wisdom of Happiness is admirable in its messaging, however, its presentation here is unlikely to attract anyone to read further. That's a shame, really, because the Dalai Lama's writings are exceptional and the lessons imparted here are worthy of exploration beyond a feature doc. The approach here reminds me of a stream-of-consciousness celebrity memoir, though the Dalai Lama is far too intentional and there's not a moment of gossip to be found here. 

There's a better film trying to rise to the surface of Wisdom of Happiness, though a good film still remains. There's no question that followers of the Dalai Lama will find much to love here. 

For newcomers? I promise, Buddhism gets better. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic